About Me

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The Angel of the North is an Antony Gormley sculpture and the photo in my banner is from Freefoto.com. Other elements are stamps (CHF Beautiful & Cracked Montana Earth) and computer generated text.

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Sorry to all legit commenters who have chosen not to register with Google etc but I've had to turn off anonymous commenting. This is due to the incredible levels of spam and the fact that Blogger's auto filtering is getting worse so some spam comments are being published. Please use the "Contact me" option if you have a question for me or something you'd really like to say. Thank you for your continued visits.

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Friday, 29 February 2008

Well obviously, I am a woman but it's the title of this week's DCM dare, set by Lythan who says our cards must feature at least one feminine image. I had no trouble with the 'extra' rules since I don't own a single Tilda, Sugar Nellie or Bella image :o)

I was lucky enough to win some stamps from Tanda Stamps recently and I chose the Retro Women 2 plate which I thought would offer a perfect image for this dare. Click through for a bigger view if you want it...

I thought it would be fun to add just a little splash of colour for the shoes and although you can't really see on the photo, I went over the legs with a glaze pen to give them the slight sheen of silk stockings.

Wednesday, 27 February 2008

Rhi is the darer for the Daring Cardmakers this week and she's sending us all on a recycling mission. It's our plastic packaging she's after and after a couple of disasters fit only for the bin, I managed to use two sorts of plastic in producing this...

The little swing tag is acetate cut from our Christmas cracker packaging. I stamped with Stazon and coloured with Sakura Glaze and Souffle pens. I ended up backing it with a matching white card circle to make the colours look more vivid. It has a more stained glass effect in real life but it's a bit dull up here this morning so it doesn't really show on the pic!

Did you spot the second use of plastic? The bottom polka dots are not designer paper or a rubber stamped background - they're done with bubble wrap *smile*

If you haven't checked out the Bubbly Funk auction for Ellie, new things have been added including a "LO promise" from Kirsty Wiseman herself. So if you've ever fancied owning a Kirsty Wiseman original, this could be your chance. Click below to find out more about the auction and how you can bid. Pictures and short descriptions are available on a Fotopic site if you are not a member of the Bubbly Funk forum.

Tuesday, 19 February 2008

The Just Bex forum has a big challenge going on at the moment. Thirteen different challenges were launched over the weekend and are 'live' for a week with points to be earned for each one completed. Not sure I'll find all that much time to play but I've managed one for the Black & White with one other colour challenge

I kept it bold with a big single paisley stamp that came in a batch of UMs I got on eBay. The dewdrop colour didn't seem quite intense enough for this design so I coloured the backs with a Copic marker to deepen the shade a bit.

Monday, 18 February 2008

I've been admiring Michelle Zindorf's work with a brayer, both on Splitcoaststampers and the Cornish Heritage Farms gallery. I remembered using something similar as a kid when I made a lino block for Christmas cards one year and Dad let me use a "roller thingy" to apply the gloopy printer's ink.

Sure enough, Dad can be relied upon not to have got rid of such things and I've borrowed the brayer - thanks Dad! It's probably half a century old but it still does the job!

Not easy, this brayering lark but after a lot of faffing about trying different cardstock and rolling actions, I think I might be getting somewhere.

Because I wanted longer stems at a different angle than the stamp, I stuck tape over the stem when I inked up and just stamped the flower head. Then I used a French curve template and drew in stems with a fine brown marker.

I was inspired to do a green background to fit with Claudia's blog challenge to create something using your favourite colour. My favourite colour varies from time to time but I always seem to gravitate back to greens, especially soft or olivey tones.

Saturday, 16 February 2008

This week's DCM dare has been set by Rachel and Keryn who are both building up their Stampin Up! businesses. Their theme for the dare is love and friendship. Here's my card (you can click through for a more detailed view if you want it):

The sentiment is computer generated and I positioned it inside a Nestability circle die and then stamped the design on the cut and embossed circle.

I used the leafy tree from the Lovely as a Tree set by SU!, stamped in Chestnut Roan and coloured by dusting with various shades of green chalk. I used a bit of blue chalk for the sky area and darker green and brown for the ground. The circle is popped up on foam tape so the jute string (which I unravelled for a softer effect) goes underneath it and is threaded through a couple of holes which are then 'plugged' with brads.

The wood grain background panel is stamped onto some paper that already has a fine wood grain effect (it came from The Papermill). It has torn edges that are further distressed with a bit of inking.

Friday, 15 February 2008

The new Tanda Teaser challenge kicked off in its regular Wednesday slot this week with a challenge from Sheila (Manicstamper). She challenged us to Hit the High Notes with music somewhere in our design. Here's mine

I had several disasters along the way and I'm still not quite convinced about this but never mind! Inspired by last week's DCM midweek extra, I had a go at Jo Kill style doodled scallops and borders and a slightly bolder style than usual so maybe that's why I'm not entirely happy with it - it's just not quite 'me'.

I used the bird's tail feathers to create the swirls at top left and just added dots with a gel pen.

Don't forget to take a look at the Auction for Ellie (see post here for more info) if you fancy helping to raise some money to help Kirsty Wiseman and maybe get some bargain stash or a unique hand crafted item while you're at it.

Thursday, 14 February 2008

Lots of you know the name, right? Kirsty is well known in scrapping circles and produces some fantastic stuff. She's also very generous with her time and expertise. Right now, Kirsty needs some help. Her daughter, Ellie, has some medical problems that doctors here have failed to get to the bottom of and the Wiseman family want to take Ellie to Nevada where they hope the doctors will be able to help. To make the trip, they need to raise £5,000.

The girls at Bubbly Funk wanted to help and thought an auction would be more fun than a whip round. We're putting together stash 'n' stuff - things we won't use or can bear to part with and things we've made. It's a silent auction, you just send a message to Caroline if there's anything to you fancy bidding on.

Here's a little peek of a couple of my offerings.

Stash...A metre each of lilac and turquoise grosgrain (approx 2cm wide) and a selection of Primas in coordinating colours and different shapes and sizes.

...and stuff

A set of six note cards with matching envelopes and a presentation wallet. They're hand stamped (with CHF's Daisy Jar) and coloured and because there are no bulky embellishments they make perfect notecards as they only need basic postage. A nice little gift for Mothers' Day, perhaps?

Also on offer are hand made notebooks, bead and wire ornaments, knitting yarn, beads, felted items, ribbon, papers, rubber stamps... You can see Janice's gorgeous felted brooch and bag on her blog.

To view all the items and place a bid, you'll need to be a member of the Bubbly Funk Forum but it's quick and easy and it's a very friendly place so don't be shy! You'll find the sign up page here if you're not already a member. Bidding closes at 7pm on Sun 24 February so you have about 10 days to take a look. People are still adding items so do check back, too!

Tuesday, 12 February 2008

OK, well I'm not sure that the card is a shining example of anything but that's the title of the challenge. For a while now, Tanda have had a weekly card making challenge on the forum but they're just starting to open it up by making it a blog challenge and this is the first theme.

My shining bits: acetate, gold lustre powder and a tiny gem (the sort sold for use on your finger nails!)

I stamped the lilies on acetate and then used watercolour pencils to colour the back of the sheet (the stuff designed for inkjet printers that has the slight 'tooth' on one side will take watercolour pencils OK). I also used a cheesecloth stamp and chalk ink to give a slightly 'crackled' effect. Then I covered the back with Versamark and brushed gold lustre powder over the whole surface.

The acetate panel is attached to a dark green matt with a square brad and I've added a tiny gem to the centre.

Here's a closer view of the flower heads so you can see how it all came together, you can click through for a better view:Supplies: Calla Lilies from Long Stemmed set by Stampin' Up!, cheesecloth and rice paper backgrounders by Cornish Heritage Farms, Stazon Jet Black, Clearsnap chalk ink Chestnut Roan and Warm Green, Tim Holtz distress ink Peeled Paint, Versamark, acetate sheet, watercolour pencils, gold lustre powder, square antique brass brad, nailart gem.

The Tanda Teaser will usually appear on Wednesdays so keep an eye out if you fancy joining in with the challenge.

Thursday, 7 February 2008

A colour dare from DCM this time around: make a card in only red and white. I stuck to something fairly bold and simple as I'm late this week and it's nearly time for the next dare! As ever, picture is clickable for a bigger version if you want it:

Heart is hand cut and coloured with Cherry Red ink before sponging with Distress Fired Brick to make it a bit more aged and "countryish" to go with the stamped gingham.

Sunday, 3 February 2008

Rosie is a mainstay on Bubbly Funk and she celebrated her birthday yesterday. As it was a milestone birthday (you know, one of those that ends with a zero) I decided to push the boat out and make a card.

The monogram is hand cut (I printed out an R in font High Tower at about 400pt and used it as a template) and painted with pearlescent acrylic. It's triple embossed with clear so it has an enamel effect in real life that didn't photograph all that well.

Those daisies usually live in a jar (see them here if you don't recognise them) but I thought it would be fun to set them free - the little piece of raffia is tied around to disguise the line where the the jar goes across the stems. The shrink plastic sentiment tag is really only there because Rosie can be relied upon to shriek with horror if shrink plastic is mentioned on the forum and I thought it might make her smile.

Saturday, 2 February 2008

Well, how dumb am I? I've been meaning to make something for the Prism inspiration challenge and only managed to get to it today. Did I check the deadline first? No I did not. When was the deadline? Yup, yesterday!

Never mind, thought I'd show you anyway. The challenge was to make something based around this inspiration piece

I love the curve you get when you plump a pillow down like that and it reminded me of a bag closure. The colours are kind of masculine though so I made this little gift card holder that looks a bit like a mini messenger bag. I thought you could put one of those cards loaded up with credit for iTunes in there so that awkward male teen in your life could choose his own downloads for his MP3!

The colours are a much closer match in real life but the light is rubbish for photos at the moment - it keeps trying to snow so it's rather dark!